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Frame Relay
Background
Frame Relay is a high-performance WAN protocol that operates at the physical and data link layers of the OSI reference model. Frame Relay originally was designed for use across Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) interfaces. Today, it is used over a variety of other network interfaces as well. This chapter focuses on Frame Relays specications and applications in the context of WAN services. Frame Relay is an example of a packet-switched technology. Packet-switched networks enable end stations to dynamically share the network medium and the available bandwidth. Variable-length packets are used for more efcient and exible transfers. These packets then are switched between the various network segments until the destination is reached. Statistical multiplexing techniques control network access in a packet-switched network. The advantage of this technique is that it accommodates more exibility and more efcient use of bandwidth. Most of todays popular LANs, Frame Relay often is Token Ring, a streamlined version of X.25, such as Ethernet anddescribed as are packet-switched networks. offering fewer of the robust capabilities, such as windowing and retransmission of lost data, that are offered in X.25. This is because Frame Relay typically operates over WAN facilities that offer more reliable connection services and a higher degree of reliability than the facilities available during the late 1970s and early 1980s that served as the common platforms for X.25 WANs. As mentioned earlier, Frame Relay is strictly a Layer 2 protocol suite, whereas X.25 provides services at Layer 3 (the network layer) as well. This enables Frame Relay to offer higher performance and greater transmission efciency than X.25 and makes Frame Relay suitable for current WAN applications, such as LAN interconnection. Initial proposals for the standardization of Frame Relay were presented to the Consultative Committee on International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) in 1984. Due to lack of interoperability and lack of complete standardization, however, Frame Relay did not experience signicant deployment during the late 1980s. A major development in Frame Relays history occurred in 1990 when Cisco Systems, Digital Equipment, Northern Telecom, and StrataCom formed a consortium to focus on Frame Relay technology development. This consortium developed a specication that conformed to the basic Frame Relay protocol that was being discussed in CCITT but extended the protocol with features that provide additional capabilities for complex internetworking environments. These Frame Relay extensions are referred to collectively as the Local Management Interface (LMI). Since the consortiums specication was developed and published, many vendors have announced their support of this extended Frame Relay denition. ANSI and CCITT have subsequently standardized their own variations of the original LMI specication, and these standardized specications now are more commonly used than the original version.
Internationally, Frame Relay was standardized by the International Telecommunications Union Telecommunications Sector (ITU-T). In the United States, Frame Relay is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard.
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DTE
The connection between a DTE device and a DCE device consists of both a physical-layer component and a link-layer component. The physical component denes the mechanical, electrical, functional, and procedural specications for the connection between the devices. One of the most commonly used physical-layer interface specications is the recommended standard (RS)-232 specication. The link-layer component denes the protocol that establishes the connection between the DTE device, such as a router, and the DCE device, such as a switch. This chapter examines a commonly utilized protocol specication used in WAN networkingthe Frame Relay protocol.
A virtual circuit can pass through any number of intermediate DCE devices (switches) located within the Frame Relay PSN. Frame Relay virtual circuits fall into two categories: switched virtual circuits (SVCs) and permanent virtual circuits (PVCs).
Call SetupThe virtual circuit between two Frame Relay DTE devices is established. Data TransferData is transmitted between the DTE devices over the virtual circuit. IdleThe connection between DTE devices is still active, but no data is transferred. If an SVC remains in an idle state for a dened period of time, the call can be terminated. Call TerminationThe virtual circuit between DTE devices is terminated.
After the virtual circuit is terminated, the DTE devices must establish a new SVC if there is additional data to be exchanged. It is expected that SVCs will be established, maintained, and terminated using the same signaling protocols used in ISDN. Few manufacturers of Frame Relay DCE equipment, however, support Switched Virtual Connections. Therefore, their actual deployment is minimal in todays Frame Relay networks.
Data TransferData is transmitted between the DTE devices over the virtual circuit. IdleThe connection between DTE devices is active, but no data is transferred. Unlike SVCs, PVCs will not be terminated under any circumstances due to being in an idle state.
DTE devices can begin transferring data whenever they are ready because the circuit is permanently established.
Congestion-Control Mechanisms
Figure 10-2
A single Frame Relay virtual circuit can be assigned different DLCIs on each end of a VC. Virtual Circuits DLCI 12 Frame Relay Network DLCI 22
DTE
62
36
DTE
89
62
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Congestion-Control Mechanisms
Frame Relay reduces network overhead by implementing simple congestion-notication mechanisms rather than explicit, per-virtual-circuit ow control. Frame Relay typically is implemented on reliable network media, so data integrity is not sacriced because ow control can be left to higher-layer protocols. Frame Relay implements two congestion-notication mechanisms: Forward-explicit congestion notication (FECN)
FECN and BECN each are controlled by a single bit contained in the Frame Relay frame header. The Frame Relay frame header also contains a Discard Eligibility (DE) bit, which is used to identify less important bit is part of thebe dropped during periods of congestion. The FECN trafc that can Address eld in the Frame Relay frame header. The FECN mechanism is initiated when a DTE device sends Frame Relay frames into the network. If the network is congested, DCE devices (switches) set the value of the frames FECN bit to 1. When the frames reach the destination DTE device, the Address eld (with the FECN bit set) indicates that the frame experienced congestion in the path from source to destination. The DTE device can relay this information to a higher-layer protocol for processing. Depending on the implementation, ow-control may be initiated, or the indication may be ignored. The BECN bit is part of the Address eld in the Frame Relay frame header. DCE devices set the value of the BECN bit to 1 in frames traveling in the opposite direction of frames with their FECN bit set. This informs the receiving DTE device that a particular path through the network is congested. The DTE device then can relay this information to a higher-layer protocol for processing. Depending on the implementation, ow-control may be initiated, or the indication may be ignored.
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Figure 10-3
A simple Frame Relay network connects various devices to different services over a WAN.
Token Ring
T1 MUX
T1 MUX
S1322a
PBX
Token Ring
Router
Video/teleconference Ethernet
The majority of Frame Relay networks deployed today are provisioned by service providers who intend to offer transmission services to customers. This is often referred to as a public Frame Relay service. Frame Relay is implemented in both public carrier-provided networks and in private enterprise networks. The following section examines the two methodologies for deploying Frame Relay.
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Flags
Address
Data
FCS
Flags
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The following descriptions summarize the basic Frame Relay frame elds illustrated in Figure 104. FlagsDelimits the beginning and end of the frame. The value of this eld is always the same and is represented either as the hexadecimal number 7E or the binary number 01111110.
AddressContains the following information: DLCI: The 10-bit DLCI is the essence of the Frame Relay header. This value represents the virtual connection between the DTE device and the switch. Each virtual connection that is multiplexed onto the physical channel will be represented by a unique DLCI. The DLCI values have local signicance only, which means that they are unique only to the physical channel on which they reside. Therefore, devices at opposite ends of a connection can use different DLCI values to refer to the same virtual connection. Extended Address (EA): The EA is used to indicate whether the byte in which the EA value is 1 is the last addressing eld. If the value is 1, then the current byte is determined to be the last DLCI octet. Although current Frame Relay implementations all use a two-octet DLCI, this capability does allow for longer DLCIs to be used in the future. The eighth bit of each byte of the Address eld is used to indicate the EA.
Frame Relay 10-7
C/R: The C/R is the bit that follows the most signicant DLCI byte in the Address eld. The C/R bit is not currently dened. Congestion Control: This consists of the three bits that control the Frame Relay congestion-notication mechanisms. These are the FECN, BECN, and DE bits, which are the last three bits in the Address eld. Forward-explicit congestion notication (FECN) is a single bit eld that can be set to a value of 1 by a switch to indicate to an end DTE device, such as a router, that congestion was experienced in the direction of the frame transmission from source to destination. The primary benet of the use of the FECN and BECN elds is the ability of higher-layer protocols to react intelligently to these congestion indicators. Today, DECnet and OSI are the only higher-layer protocols that implement these capabilities. Backward-explicit congestion notication (BECN) is a single bit eld that, when set to a value of 1 by a switch, indicates that congestion was experienced in the network in the direction opposite of the frame transmission from source to destination. Discard eligibility (DE) is set by the DTE device, such as a router, to indicate that the marked frame is of lesser importance relative to other frames being transmitted. Frames that are marked as discard eligible should be discarded before other frames in a congested network. This allows for a fairly basic prioritization mechanism in Frame Relay networks. DataContains encapsulated upper-layer data. Each frame in this variable-length eld includes a user data or payload eld that will vary in length up to 16,000 octets. This eld serves to transport the higher-layer protocol packet (PDU) through a Frame Relay network. Frame Check SequenceEnsures the integrity of transmitted data. This value is computed by the source device and veried by the receiver to ensure integrity of transmission.
Nine elds comprise the Frame Relay that conforms to the LMI format.
Variable
Flag
LMI DLCI
FCS
Flag
S1320a
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FlagDelimits the beginning and end of the frame. LMI DLCIIdenties the frame as an LMI frame instead of a basic Frame Relay frame. The LMI-specic DLCI value dened in the LMI consortium specication is DLCI = 1023. Unnumbered Information IndicatorSets the poll/nal bit to zero. Protocol DiscriminatorAlways contains a value indicating that the frame is an LMI frame. Call ReferenceAlways contains zeros. This eld currently is not used for any purpose. Message TypeLabels the frame as one of the following message types: Status-inquiry message: Allows a user device to inquire about the status of the network. Status message: Responds to status-inquiry messages. Status messages include keepalives and PVC status messages. Information ElementsContains a variable number of individual information elements (IEs). IEs consist of the following elds: IE Identier: Uniquely identies the IE. IE Length: Indicates the length of the IE. Data: Consists of one or more bytes containing encapsulated upper-layer data.
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